Backpacks and other personal load-carrying equipment may utilize two shoulder straps for balancing and supporting a load across a person's shoulders. Some backpacks, such as those designed to carry heavier loads, may include features that reduce the load carried by the shoulders by transferring a portion of the load to the wearer's hips. Such features may include a hip belt that secures a lower portion of the backpack to the wearer's hips.
Even with hip belts or other similar features, shoulder discomfort may be experienced by a person carrying a load in a backpack. In some cases, backpack straps may also contribute to discomfort to the clavicle, muscles or other soft tissue in the area of the shoulders or upper chest. Particularly with heavier loads and on longer trips, a backpack shoulder strap may also impede circulation to and/or lymphatic return from a person's arms and hands, which may result in uncomfortable hand swelling.
When a person wearing a backpack experiences shoulder discomfort, the person may alter his or her natural walking or hiking posture to a less efficient or less comfortable posture in response to the discomfort. In some cases, a person may grab the shoulder straps and pull them away from the person's chest to temporarily relieve or redistribute the load on the person's shoulders. If the person is using hiking poles, the person may stop using the poles and allow them to dangle from straps around the person's wrists while the person pulls at the shoulder straps. These movements may lead to a less efficient and/or less stable walking or hiking posture.
To address hand swelling, a person may raise his or her arms overhead to encourage fluid drainage from the person's hands. This posture is also less-than-desirable for walking and hiking, and does not allow for the use of hiking poles. When experiencing shoulder discomfort, the person may also attempt to move the shoulder strap on the person's shoulder to an adjusted position. However, the strap will often shift back into its original, uncomfortable position on the shoulder as the person continues walking or hiking.
The inventor herein has recognized the above issues, as well as various solutions to address them. In one example, the above issues may be at least partly addressed by a removable and adjustable cushioning system for a shoulder strap. The removable and adjustable cushioning system may comprise a base pad that includes cushioning material and is contoured to conform to a person's shoulder. A plurality of fastener receivers are coupled to the base pad and a fastener is removably coupled to at least one of the fastener receivers. The fastener is configured to engage the shoulder strap and to removably secure the base pad to the shoulder strap.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.
The embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1-4 and 6-9 are approximately to scale. It will be appreciated that other embodiments of the present disclosure may have proportions differing from those illustrated in FIGS. 1-4 and 6-9.